Equality Impact Assessment - Results

1. The aim of the transitional service will be to
deliver high quality employment support to those with a
disability who want and need help to enter and remain in
the labour market.

2. To create a strong platform for the delivery of a new
programme from April 2018 and to work in partnership with
stakeholders to establish support that achieves high
quality outcomes.

3. To meet the needs of people with disabilities who
need more specialised support to find employment or keep a
job once they have started work.

4. To provide a voluntary, tailored and coherent range
of specialist employment services which respond flexibly
and effectively to the needs of disabled people and their
employers.

Directorate: Division Team

Employment Support Services

Executive Summary

1. The Scotland Act 2016 places a duty on Scottish Ministers to
provide employment support to those in Scotland who are disabled or
at risk of long term unemployment from the expiry of current
DWP
contracts in April 2017. Scottish Ministers have agreed a
transitional approach to the first year of devolution - 1 April
2017 to 31 March 2018 to maintain continuity of service for
disabled people and those claiming Employment Support Allowance
subject to Work Related Activity by
DWP and
who want support to enter work (with work defined as 16 hours or
more per week).This will meet the 2015 Programme for Government
commitment to replace the existing contracted services operated by
DWP.

2. Scottish Government will replace
DWP's
Work Choice and Work Programme with two new 1 year programmes (i)
Work First Scotland, a 1 year contract between Scottish Government
and current
DWP
Work Choice Providers in Scotland; and (ii) WorkAble Scotland,
delivered by Skills Development Scotland (
SDS)
delivering a new transitional employability service for customers
with a health condition and at risk of long term unemployment, and
who want to enter work.

3. The evidence gathered from a number of sources suggests that
the policy represents a small but important change - (devolution of
DWP
Contracted Employment Support Services to Scottish Government). No
negative impacts of the policy have been identified for any of the
protected characteristics. The evidence has identified potential
positive impacts concerning age, disability, sex and black and
minority ethnic employment. The majority of anticipated impacts
relate to advancing equality of opportunity to support those who
want to work into work.

4. Evidence gathering and analysis provided through the 2015
Consultation undertaken by Scottish Government on the devolution of
employment support served to highlight the affected customers and
potential impacts on equality dimensions for 2017 Programme. The
Equality Impact Assessment (
EQIA) has
not altered the policy intention, but it has highlighted areas that
will require further development in the 2018 policy.

5. During the process of policy elaboration in advance of
implementation, the information in the
EQIA was
used to inform decisions on implementation and on the policy's
interaction with other policies. It will also influence the
development of the policy for 2018 Devolved Employment Support
Services.

6. Scottish Ministers agreed to enter into a Non-Competitive
Action (
NCA) with the
three existing Work Choice Providers for Work First Scotland,
Remploy, Shaw Trust and Momentum Skills. As this is a
NCA, it limits
our ability to influence any significant change to support our
findings through this exercise, however, it will aid us in moving
towards the new contract in 2018.

Background

7. The devolution of
UKG contracted
employment support allows us to build on existing Scottish
Government services to develop the skills of our workforce and help
them into work through employability support. It is an opportunity
to better align and integrate services funded across Scottish
Government and locally to help people into work. Cabinet's
agreement to additional funding for these services is based on the
premise of taking forward public sector reform in this respect and
working towards the achievement of greater alignment of
employability and skills services by 2020.

8. In March 2016, Cabinet agreed that the impact of
UKG decisions
resulting in significant reductions in future funding of contracted
employment programmes required such a fundamental rethink of
programme planning that at transitional year should be put in place
from 2017. This would put in place an interim service, with a view
to a longer mainstream programme being procured to commence in
April 2018.

9. Cabinet further agreed that priority groups for this service
would be disabled people, with a non-competitive action (
NCA) with
existing Work Choice contractors to maintain existing service
levels to disabled people. A further gap was identified for those
claiming Employment and Support Allowance who might be seeking
employment support. Cabinet therefore agreed that Skills
Development Scotland would provide a low volume service through the
Employability Fund mechanism for these individuals.

10. Work First Scotland: Scottish Government is seeking to
maintain the existing volume of services, which for 2015-2016 was
3,300 places. Job outcome performance expectations will be equal to
or will exceed existing performance levels.

11. Work Able: Through Work Able Scotland, Skills Development
Scotland will procure and manage up to 1,500 starts for eligible
customers with a health condition who want to enter work and
putting in place support for those at risk of Long Term
Unemployment.

12. Both these transitional services will be a voluntary service
with no application of
DWP
benefit conditionality or sanctions attached to participation.

13. It is Scottish Ministers' intention that no one is left
behind, and supporting individuals in their journey towards
employment, regardless of their starting point, their age or the
barriers they face. A system of entitlement to support, based on
need, was identified as the way forward.

14. A total of 215 responses to the consultation were received
and then independently analysed. The report has been published on
the Employability in Scotland website.

15. Respondents were also keen to ensure geographical equality.
The most common benefit identified of a nationally designed
programme was that it ensures consistency and equality of services
by helping to avoid 'postcode lotteries' where service availability
and quality vary across Scotland. It was felt that employability
services formed part of the social inclusion response, given that
inequality, poverty and disadvantage are linked to
unemployment.

16. Scottish Ministers believe that no one should be denied
opportunities because of their race or ethnicity, their disability,
their gender or sexual orientation, their age or religion.

The Scope of the
EQIA

17. The
EQIA has
been informed by detailed analysis of existing evidence and data
(both qualitative and quantitative) in order to draw out the
potential impacts of the policy for the eight protected
characteristics:

18. The evidence for this
EQIA was
taken from the Office for National Statistics (
ONS),
International Labour Organisation (
ILO)
and Labour Force Survey.

19. The Scottish Government has used both formal and informal
stakeholder feedback to inform policy, including through the 2015
Consultation exercise. The Scottish Government published its
response: '
Creating a Fairer Scotland: A New Future for Employability
Support in Scotland'.

Key Findings

20. Our assessment of the likely impact of the policy upon those
within the protected characteristics identified the following
potential positive impacts:

(i). Age - According to the labour market statistics, variations
in employment and unemployment rates are apparent across different
age groups. Unemployment rates vary between 15.8% (Aged 16-24) and
4.1% (Aged 35-49). No gaps were identified. In addition to this
service, other Scottish Government support, such as the
Employability Fund and support for young people through
SERI
and Community Jobs Scotland, customers of all working age will
continue to be supported through locally funded support, in
particular by local authorities and employability partnerships.

(ii). Disability - At 40.9%, the disabled employment rate is
almost half of the non-disabled rate (81.5%) and is lower than the
UK disabled employment
rate of 47.9% (
ONS,
Labour Force Survey, Apr-Jun datasets 2016). The Scottish
Government has published a Disability Delivery Plan with a series
of key actions on employment and an overarching target to halve the
disability employment gap. Devolved employment services will make a
contribution to the achievement of this target. The new services
offer a less prescriptive and more flexible provision with a
greater focus on those who need specialist support, therefore
presenting an opportunity to promote equality.

(iii). Sex - At first glance, women in Scotland perform well in
the labour market, The current employment rate of 70.5% (
ONS
Labour Force Survey June-August 2016) is the 4th highest in the
EU and, since the 2008
recession, women have contributed significantly to the recovery of
employment rates in Scotland - more so than in the rest of the
UK. However, male
unemployment remains higher in Scotland that in the
UK - 7.3% versus 5.2%).
This support service will be available to those who need them and
for those that meet eligibility. Service Providers have to ensure
support complies with current legislation and have written equal
opportunities policy in line with the Equality Act 2010.

(iv). Black and Minority Ethnic (
BME) - Some
ethnic minority groups suffer disadvantage in the labour market,
and when broken down by gender, the employment rate for women in
these groups is even lower. There are real issues of
intersectionality, particularly for women from ethnic minorities
and many reasons for this. Service Providers have been asked to
engage positively to support such customers into sustained
employment, recognising the geographical variations in ethnic
minority populations, and the sensitive culture issues affecting
them.
SG will influence
the Invitation To Tender (
ITT) for the 2018
Service to ensure potential bidders outline how they intend to
address this.

21. The Equality Impact Analysis has shaped and informed the
Scottish Government's policy development by:

Developing a Policy Statement for all future programmes allowing
colleagues to structure and adapt the
EQIA on an
ongoing basis;

The 2015 Consultation provided a clear focus on key priorities
in developing the policy for the transitional year and assisted
highlighting areas of equality to be taken into account in
delivering the programme;

Has helped to address the negative impact sanctions can have on
vulnerable people in society. Scottish Ministers have agreed that
all customers participating in Scotland's employability service
should do so on a voluntary basis:

Presenting an opportunity to design and deliver effective and
targeted employment support services in Scotland that better meet
the needs of unemployed Scots, those employing community and
services that reflect national and local labour markets and which
helps to build on existing service delivery in Scotland:

And providing an opportunity to better align, not just
mainstream employability support, but also disability employment
services with other Scottish Government and Public Sector support
for unemployed Scots, such as Welfare, Health & Social Care,
creating the opportunity to deliver more effective, targeted and
joined up public services and seek broader progress and potential
shared outcomes (and investment) in devolved services.

Recommendation and Conclusion:

22. The
EQIA
process has not altered the policy intention but it has identified
evidence gaps and likely data going forward to allow for policy
implementation to be monitored.

23. The evidence suggests that this policy represents a small
but important change (devolution of Contracted Employability
Support Services from
DWP),
which will either have no effects or potential positive effects on
particular protected characteristics, specifically: age,
disability, sex and black and minority ethnic employment.

24. During the process of policy implementation, the
EQIA will
be used to inform decisions on implementation and on the policy's
interaction with other policies. It will also play a key role in
the development of the policy for 2018 Devolved Employment Support
Services.

25. The Scottish Government lack robust evidence on how other
protected groups are supported by employment services in Scotland
and the outcomes they achieve. A clear ambition of the Service is
to add to existing evidence and data on successful interventions
for these groups.

26. Also, Scotland's transitional programmes will be a
'universal' offer to all eligible people in the flow population,
whilst other voluntary programmes over the last 20 years have
mostly been self-selecting (by referrer, provider, and/or
individual) resulting in a higher proportion of motivated
participants.

27. To continue the learning for 2018, Scottish Government is
asking Service Providers to collect the following in relation to
protected characteristics: